The Quarrymen were a poor excuse for a group. George is quoted in Anthology as saying that just prior to when they hired Pete Best, they were “horrible and an embarrassment”. When the Beatles held auditions to find a drummer, Pete Best was the only one who even wanted the job. They were a bum group nobody wanted. The main motivation in changing the name of the group was because they had already ruined the Quarrymen name and they needed a fresh start. Heck, they even had to leave the country to find work. When Allan Williams was sending them off to Germany, one of the other Liverpool groups working there wrote him a letter begging him not to send that "bum group" or else they'll ruin it for everyone.

Pete Best's mother gave them all a regular place to play (the Casbah) and a home away from home. Then Pete gave them what they needed - a steady drummer dedicated to the band. Unlike the others, he also did well in school. He even learned German and handled business dealings for the group (with help from his mother Mona).

Within a month or so of Pete joining the Beatles, they became the hottest band in Hamburg. Just 4 months after Pete joined they became the hottest band in Liverpool and he was the star of the group. In order to please fans, they even tried doing shows with Pete and his drum kit in the front of the stage with John, Paul & George forced to perform from the back. Pete's "Atom Beat" became the Liverpool sound. All of the other drummers were copying his style - including Ringo Starr from Rory Storm & The Hurricanes.

HOW POPULAR WAS PETE?

On the 1 year anniversary of Pete joining the Beatles, the Mersey Beat ran an article raving about the group. They were called a phenomenon unlike anything we will ever see again in our lifetime. Beatlemania was already happening over a year before Ringo joined the band. In that same Mersey Beat article, Pete was singled out for his mean, moody magnificence. John, Paul & George were never even mentioned.

As a drummer, was Pete a Buddy Rich or Keith Moon or John Bonham?

No. And he was never going to be.

But he was a loyal Beatle and good friend to Lennon, McCartney & Harrison. He was a dependable bandmate missing only 3 or 4 gigs out of over 750 plus performances. All with proper notice and for good reason. Others also missed a few gigs with flu or other illnesses. Paul is said to have missed the most, way more than Pete & the others. In fact, in terms of total time spent playing live, Pete played more in his 2 years with the Beatles than Ringo played in his entire career.

Pete was a rocker who liked playing in the band, drinking beer, chasing girls and getting into trouble (fun kind) with John. He didn't get on as well with George. George was friends with Ringo and had always liked him as a drummer. In a fall 1960 letter home George mentions Rory Storms group is playing the Kaiserkeller with them. He's says he thinks they're crummy and the only one in the group that's any good is the drummer (Ringo). He also mentions how well Pete is drumming in the same letter.

George became good friends with Ringo. He wasn't as close to Pete. He then lobbied Paul to make the switch from Pete to Ringo. After awhile, Paul came around to the idea and then lobbied John. John said no and didn't change his mind until the Love Me Do session when George Martin stated a preference for using Andy White. That gave George and Paul the ammo they needed to get John to make the move. Also, dispite all of his shilling for McCartney & Harrison regarding the reasons for dismissing Pete, the fact is that George Martin did not even attend the Pete Best "Love Me Do" session. He received a report from his engineers who were there.

Mona Best had lobbied Granada TV to come to Liverpool and do a piece on the Beatles. They came and recorded the Cavern debut of Ringo Starr, her son's replacement. At the end of their performance of "Some Other Guy", you hear someone in the crowd shout out "We want Pete". You can hear John shouting "Yeah!" in agreement.

John wasn't around to have a say in The Beatles Anthology. So Paul & George ran the show. As a result, Anthology 1 provides a very distorted version of the Beatles early years. It attempts to create the impression that Ringo was in the group for far longer than he really was and also tries to diminish the roll Pete and the Best family played. It attempts to fool the viewer at every turn and lead the audience into drawing false conclusions.

For instance, when George tells the story of how they found Pete, George struggles to even remember his name. He says that he remembered this guy um, um, who's mother had a club, um, um, who's son got a drum kit for Christmas, and his name was um, um, er, a ... Pete Best. He knew exactly who Pete Best was. John and Paul knew exactly who he was too. They all practically lived at his house for over a year. The Quarrymen were the house band and they hung out there when they weren't playing. They even painted the Casbah with artwork that survives to this day.

Roag Best says his father, Neil Aspinall told him that Ringo's only contribution to the Anthology Videos was to push to have Pete faded out of the famous 1960 Beatles fairground shot and have himself Photoshopped in. They say Pete was unrelyable - yet he did the most work of anyone in the band. He did 7 hour shows 7 days a week (drugfree, unlike the others) and managed the groups affairs. They say they knew they had to get "Liverpools greatest drummer" Ringo Starr, when the truth is they had actually reached out to other drummers before contacting Ringo. They also imply that Martin used White instead of Starr only because he didn't know Starr was coming to the session. That's false. Martin had listened to Starr the week before and decided he was no better than Pete. He then booked White and let Ringo play tambourine.

I think the Beatles are great (Ringo too)! They are not only a great band; they are the most successful entertainment group in the history of the world. But their true story has never truly been told.

"We were at our best when we were playing in the dance halls of Liverpool and Hamburg. The world never saw that." - John Lennon

That's the time when Pete Best was the drummer. In fact, the first thing Brian Epstein (and most everybody else at that time) says they noticed about the Beatles was their "beat". Best helped the Beatles go from being a bum band nobody wanted into being the #1 band in 2 different cities in 2 different countries and also helped them to get 2 different record deals in 2 different countries. He was dumped during the recording of "Love Me Do". A month later it was on the charts.

What I am trying to do with my short film "The Beatles at their Best" is shine a light on this very important chapter in music history. If you care about the Beatles, and care about the truth, you should want the true story to be told. If you don’t want to hear the truth, then how can you call yourself a true fan?

And it is possible to like Ringo and like Pete too!

Pete Best was a loyal Beatle who contributed greatly to the success of the group. Even if Ringo was to one day replace him, Pete deserved better treatment than he got. He was dumped coldheartedly by his friends, then badmouthed and never spoken to again for the rest of his life.

Gimme some truth!!!

Please consider supporting efforts to get "The Beatles at their Best" out to a wider audience. You can join the project!

Click the link below the video to visit the project at Kickstarter.com

When I listen to Petes drumming on Love Me Do, I always think.....thats why they got Ringo..

Maybe it was just nerves with Pete that day but to me it sounds quite bad

The first time I heard that on The Anthology CD I thought, "what the heck was Ringo doing?" But it is rather neat that Pete still has a fan base. It's all part of the fascinating story that is The Beatles. :)

The first time I heard that on The Anthology CD I thought, "what the heck was Ringo doing?" But it is rather neat that Pete still has a fan base. It's all part of the fascinating story that is The Beatles. :)

Yes thats true, Pete was the most unlucky guy in history...........Ringo the luckiest

There was a rumour years ago that Paul n George were jealous of the attention Pete got from the ladies, he was the best looking of the 4 I suppose, but we'll never know if theres any truth in that

There was a rumour years ago that Paul n George were jealous of the attention Pete got from the ladies, he was the best looking of the 4 I suppose,

He was undeniably good looking but he needed to smile more! I think in all the many Beatles pictures I've looked at in the past year I've only seen one where he was smiling. I guess he was going for that brooding look.

Outstanding thesis, Shaun. Loved it!As much as I love the Beatles and am getting to know every single nook and cranny about them, I hate it when their fans think everything John, Paul or George was right and fair when a lot of it was not...These people were NOT gods!As Mark Lewisohn said, the sacking of Pete Best was handled in a despicable manner.

I dont think any of them kept in touch. I remember a year or two ago when Ringo apologized to him, and I was taken aback. Of all the people to apologize, why should Ringo? f*** Pete. The guy acts like he's barely putting food on the table with all his whining and crying, when in fact, he's cashed in on the situation along with being a historic figure now. Sorry if I dont feel any remorse for him.

I dont think any of them kept in touch. I remember a year or two ago when Ringo apologized to him, and I was taken aback. Of all the people to apologize, why should Ringo? f*** Pete. The guy acts like he's barely putting food on the table with all his whining and crying, when in fact, he's cashed in on the situation along with being a historic figure now. Sorry if I dont feel any remorse for him.

ahh you have to feel a bit sorry for him Todd, just imagine the torture he went through in the 60's poor bastard

he's a lot better off for being in the band though, Ive played in a few bands and I bet his bank account is a lot bigger than mine roll:)

ahh you have to feel a bit sorry for him Todd, just imagine the torture he went through in the 60's poor bastard

he's a lot better off for being in the band though, Ive played in a few bands and I bet his bank account is a lot bigger than mine roll:)

I understand where your coming from and sure, people wish for the stars and he just missed out, but if Pete thought himself to be good enough for the biggest band in the world, why didnt he make it with somebody else? Was he too depressed to move on? I really dont know. Something to ponder.

I find it amusing that this guy seems to know why Pete got fired, and yet Pete claims he doesn't know.

I don't why Pete got fired. I am aware that on Letterman in 82, Pete said it was because jealousy was creeping into the act. There is a lot of evidence that other factors played a part as well. The biggest was probably the fact that the others felt Pete didn't show the same type of improvement in his 2nd year with the Beatles as he showed in his first.

Best has also claimed that it was because of jealousy..he said that on David Letterman.

I dont think it was a good idea to say that in front of millions, I think it made him look petty, and not a great way to endear yourself to people.

He has also said he didnt know the reason (diplomatic answer) , its obvious the others didnt like him that much and thought Ringo was a better drummer otherwise why would you change, if it was jealousy (and I think thats entirely possible) the others must have bigger ego's than I thought.

I like Pete though, we'll probably never know the real answers, (Brian couldve answered this) but the 60's mustve been torture for poor old Pete though, I wouldnt wish that on anyone, they went from relative obscurity to the biggest act on the planet just after he left - their names will go down in history, yeah poor Pete :'(

I've never heard this story before, it actually makes sense, which does not means it is necessarily true. I'm not a big Pete Best fan but I know one thing is that true, they did sacked Best coldheartedly, and forgot about him. I guess the other 3 weren't then mature enough to handle this. Imagine how though it could have been to tell your band mate "we might just get a recording deal, if we get another drummer, that is" That's definitely something I wouldn't like to say to anyone. Also, I've always thought the the The Beatles (in their final lineup) were much more than the added talent of their individual members, they sort of multiplied each other; the final four were just the perfect group (sort of meant to be), and that would've never happen with Best (perhaps because of some of things this story says. If it is true, yes they could've jealous, maybe they didn't like Best's family being involved, etc.)

P.S. While Ringo might have been lucky, [in fact, all the other Beatles (final lineup) were quite lucky to find each other] he wasn't in anyway a lucky no-talent-johnny-in-the-spot: http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/bryant.html (http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/bryant.html)